March 15, 2007
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BARCA BLOG – LIFE ON THE ROAD – SACRAMENTO ENTRY 1
MEN’S BASKETBALL NCAA TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Back for week three of the old blog. This time, we’re headed to Sacramento for the Men’s NCAA Tournament (aka – going back to Cali). I don’t know about you, but this is an exciting time to be a Commodore. Now, I’ve only been to Sacramento one time in my life and that was when I was six years old or so…. don’t remember much, other than going to the state fair and the horse racing track (which probably explains a lot about me as I look back on my childhood).
As crazy as my life has been the past few weeks due to extensive travel, I am thrilled to be going somewhere outside the state of Georgia…. not that there’s anything wrong with Georgia, but I have been in and out of that state the past three weekends.. two were for the men’s and women’s SEC tournaments, and the other was with my parents to see an Atlanta Hawks game at Phillips Arena. Anyway, on with the show.
Here’s your first look at the team getting ready to board the airplane to Sacramento. It’s right around 6 p.m. Tuesday night.
Wait a second… that’s not the team…. maybe I’m not on the trip. Better call my agent.
Just figured it out… they put me on the bus with our spirited band and cheer members. There’s no way the team would leave them behind, so I think I am safe. We are taking a chartered flight to Sacramento, so we avoided the whole airport terminal mess. First class, all the way, baby!
Ah! There’s our team. Feelin’ good now.
Security checked every single piece of baggage. Nobody was saved by celebrity status (not even me).
Just in case they don’t let DeeBee on the plane, I brought my L.A. Gear high tops on the trip. You know, the ones where the heels would light up after every step. Looking back, not even Joe Montana could make those kicks look cool. What was I thinking? I am ready to suit up, though… that is, if coach needs me.
This plane shot reminds me of the new Nike NBA basketball commercials for some reason.. you know, the one they’ve shown a million times with Lebron, Kobe, Steve Nash, etc., strutting to the music “The Second Coming.” Big fan of these commercials even though they have been run into the ground. Nike has always produced some great sports spots and this ad can be included in that grouping.
Speaking of things we’ll see a lot during March, how about the number of times CBS plays Christian Laettner’s last-second winner against Kentucky. If the over-under is 700, I am taking “over” in a landslide. Kentucky fans have to hate this part of March Madness. It’s almost as if March Madness has become synonymous with that play…. even though there have been several great buzzer beaters over the years. I always thought it would be funny to play that Laettner video clip over and over again (and in every angle including Thomas Hill’s timeless expression) in Memorial Gym when the Kentucky starting lineup is being introduced. Maybe next year.
We have lift-off! No, that isn’t our plane, but in order to get a shot of our flight leaving, it would mean that I would have to be on the ground in Nashville. Wasn’t happening. So I took a quick pic of this Southwest flight that left twenty minutes prior to our departure. I’m a big fan of Southwest and their “sit anywhere you want” concept, but the one thing they are still missing are honey-roasted peanuts. They serve the dry roasted kind, which are okay… but everyone knows honey roasted is the way to fly.
Inside Air Force One!
The Skooch Montage…
Say it with me…. Skooooooooch!
Skooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooch!
One of the highlights of the year had to be at the San Juan Shootout when the PA announcer would yell out Ted’s last name. I wasn’t at that event, but could hear it loud and clear on the radio. It was off the charts…. Ted Skoooooooooooooooochasssssssssssssssssssssssss. You can listen to the San Juan PA guy pronounce our entire roster in an audio file listed on our podcasting page. Or you can go to itunes and type in Vanderbilt Athletics to find our podcasting page.
Cheer coach Pam Pearson (right) and several cheerleaders made the trip. I would like to note that Coach Stallings went out of his way during the flight to walk to the back of the plane to thank our Band and Cheer squads for flying down with the team to the tournament. These are some of the things you don’t always see. Side note – we did experience 10-15 minutes of turbulence when we hit Tulsa, Oklahoma. Don’t really have any flight fears, but I have to admit, this made me a little uneasy.
Looks like we made it! After three bags of Rold Gold pretzels, I am ready to get it started. That puts a wrap on night one. Wednesday will feature a morning shoot around at a local college, then a walk-thru at Arco Arena. Can’t wait to see the town during daylight. Until next time…
Wake Up….. This is the view outside of the media hotel Wednesday morning where our lead photographer, Neil Brake, and I are staying in Sacramento. The team is actually about 15 minutes away from where we are. Can’t tell you exactly where they are staying… it’s classified information, Charlie.
Check out the local newspaper, the Sacramento Bee. Gotta love the coverage with a big pic of senior sharpshooter Dan Cage on the front of the sports section.
Since I knew that I probably wouldn’t have a lot of leisure time on this trip, I decided to walk around outside the hotel just before lunch. I knew I was in Cali when I walked out the door and saw the street lined with palm trees like the ones in this picture. The weather here is unbelievable…. no humidity, clear skies, and a nice cool breeze. I may stay here a few more weeks.
Check out this guy’s hat…. not sure if this is the norm in California… personally, I like it and so does Jimmy Stewart.
Yes, Sacramento is the state capitol of California, and our hotel is just a block away from the building that houses the guy that starred in Kindergarden Cop. Had to cancel my lunch meeting with Governor Schwarzenegger, though…. too busy with NCAA stuff… And no, it’s not a tuuuumahhhhhhh!
Figured I would do some talent searching out here on the west coast. I think I found the new version of Menudo…. All kidding aside, this was just one of several groups of people that were very tourist friendly…. I guess hospitality isn’t just a southern thing. By the way, when we told them we were from Vanderbilt, guess what response we received? They said, “You mean, Jay Cutler?” No lie. Kinda cool.
Since I was in a different region of the country, I thought I would branch out for lunch. Went to a great sub place called Blimpie’s. I recommend it if you’re ever in Sacramento … (okay, I know Blimpie’s is in Tennessee, too).
Find another friend and you discard …
As you lose the argument in a cable car …
Hanging above as the canyon comes between
Everyone knows I’m in
Over my head
Over my head
With eight seconds left in overtime
She’s on your mind
She’s on your mind
Actually, March Madness is on my mind. And every time I type March Madness, I have to send a check to CBS. March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness March Madness.
After lunch, it was time to head to Arco Arena, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, to watch Vanderbilt’s practice. My own personal shuttle came by to pick me up.
If you are a multi-millionaire, you should think about leasing Arco Arena.
When I made it to the Arena, our first round opponent, George Washington, was in the final steps of practice. GW coach Karl Hobbs led his Colonials into the Atlantic 10 tournament this year as a three seed and proceeded to run the table to get to the Big Dance.
Yes, since you’re playing Vanderbilt, you just made Barca Blog! Don’t get too excited.
Once the Commodores arrived, head coach Kevin Stallings and some players (pictured by Neil Brake) went through some pre-practice interviews. It’s all starting to sink in as I am beginning to get that “big stage” feeling after seeing all the blue draping around the facility. In case you didn’t know, the NCAA drapes everything behind the scenes in blue cloth.
Vanderbilt men’s basketball media contact Andre Foushee (middle) has a rough life. He’s pictured here with Len Elmore (left) and James Brown (right). I am sure I will get a call first thing in the morning from Andre about putting him in the blog. It should be stated that as glamorous as sports seem to the general public on the outside, there are people working at all hours of the day and night during the season, seven days a week on the inside.. Andre is one of those people.
Assistant coach Dan Muller (right) is shown here (with radio announcer Tim Thompson) reenacting one of the biggest shots of his playing career. Dan is a legend in this part of the country. If you don’t know the story, he hit the winning basket in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1998 in Arco Arena to lead Illinois State to a last-second victory over Tennessee. This was the same State team that was coached by none other than Kevin Stallings. I will try to get a picture of Dan’s statue just outside Arco tomorrow. A sight to see, indeed.
After practice wrapped, the team signed autographs for area school kids in attendance. Not one kid asked for my signature. I guess I shouldn’t have been wearing the dark shades and fedora hat.
Well, that’s it for Wednesday. Here’s a pic of my hotel room… trying to juggle eight things at once to get as much info out there, but am loving every minute of it! It’s a big day Thursday (tourney time!!!!). We will provide a bunch of post-game coverage following the opening round match-up with George Washington. Stay with VUcommodores.com for all your NCAA coverage! Thanks for reading.
Brandon Barca is the online director for VUcommodores.com. Send him your thoughts at brandon.barca@vanderbilt.edu.
